2004’s “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” is one of the few film adaptations of Hoffmann’s famous story, but it is notable in its own way. It is worth saying that the roles were played entirely by stars: Evgeny Mironov, Maria Aronova, Yuri Galtsev, Georgy Taratorkin, Marina Alexandrova, Efim Shifrin, Olga Ostroumova, Alexander Zhigalkin. And for the music that Alexander Vartanov wrote for the cartoon, the composer received not only the Golden Eagle, but also a personal commendation from Francis Ford Coppola. In “October”, the OpensoundOrchestra symphony orchestra directed by Stanislav Malyshev will be in charge of providing live sound for this colorful story.
The director says: “The most difficult thing was to synchronize the orchestra with the action on the screen so that the accents of the music coincided exactly with what was happening on the screen. The fact is that the soundtrack plays throughout the entire film almost without interruption, the rhythm and character of the music is constantly changing and it is necessary to change instantly.”
Director Stanislav Malyshev: “The most difficult thing was to synchronize the orchestra with the action on the screen so that the accents of the music exactly matched what was happening on the screen.” Photo: provided by the organizers.
And the author of the cartoon’s music himself remembers how 20 years ago he could not believe that he, a 22-year-old composer with no film experience, had been assigned a work of such a large scale.
“I am very happy to be able to hear my music again performed by a live symphony orchestra. The most inspiring thing is that “The Nutcracker” will now not only be seen, but also heard by many children,” says Alexander Vartanov. .
In “October”, families hope that the audience will attend the film concert: before the start, the heroes of the Nutcracker story will perform a dramatic performance on stage, talk about musical instruments and how music is born. Thanks to a fairy tale, animation and theatrical show, the organizers promise that introducing the little ones to a serious piece of music performed by an orchestra will alleviate boredom and fear of “complex” music.
By the way
“The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by Tatyana Ilyina received several awards: the Golden Eagle award for the best animated film, a gold medal at the New York Festival of Festivals (USA), a diploma from the International Festival of Animation in Annecy (France) and others. The project is being implemented with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
